YAMS to enahnce fertility

Question

I have been researching on food and diet to enhance fertility and one vegetable that is spoken about a lot is YAM. I saw pics of it on the internet and went looking for it in the grocery store yesterday. Found several similar vegs matching the description and none of them was called yam (they were named as their locan names). please help me identify which of the following is YAM:
1. YUKA from Costa Rica . This has a dark brown flesh and white inside. It is long (about 1 feet). It is sticky and slimy when u peel it fresh.
2. MALANGA from Cost Rica. This has brown hairy flesh, white inside. Sticky and slimy when u peel fresh. Tastes like potato when boiled. About 4-6 inches long
3. SWEET POTATO - Pinkish skin and shaped like a small sack. About 6 inches long and 3 inches fat. I DONT THINK THIS FITS THE DESCRIPTION OF YAM, BUT WANT TO BE SURE.

I am sure many of you would have tried these fertility food...please help me find out which is the correct one of the 3

cedd · Answer

My understanding is that the African yams which are available here in specialty stores are like the sweet potato tubers but are from a different plant family.   The sweet potato boosts vitamin A in children and helps to control blood sugar -- good reasons to eat it.  But it's not the African yam that has been cited as a possible factor in fertility in Nigerian women.  You have to get that from specialty stores.  Good luck (other notes on fertility:  I understand that lesions can mess people up -- red rasberry tea might help that; somewhere I heard about people taking progesterone I think to reduce lesions but maybe the African yam would help; I want to know too; I have a website on birth control and fertility and such mainly for my niece buit . . . )

lirio · Answer

hi i've been reading all this let me know if it works because i've been trying to get pregnant for a year and no luck, anyone  out there can give us some advice

babyalive · Answer

Hi G_S,  Here is a great web site to explain yams.  Basically we are all right about the yams.  There are hundreds of varietys.  The word yam derives from a Spanish word.  So, your market should have them listed as yams.  They range in color from white to orange with skin ranging from pink to brown.  The ones grown in Africa are very large, like logs with very brown skin.  So, it sounds like you've been eating the right thing.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yam_(vegetable)

G_S · Answer

Hi babyalive, beleive me I have been researching and seeing pics on the net just to find out what is the exact one I should be eating...there are so many similar looking vegs in the store.I have infact been eating one of each kind on differnent days with the hope that atlest one is will be correct in 4 days...hahah! But for sure, YAMS are great for fertility...I am reading a book on food u should eat to enhance fertility and yams is the first on the list. Do share ur research results. BTW I did eat the light brown outside, orange inside veg today...tasted like sweet potato and was called sweet potato in the store as well....but i know at some places these are called differently, so it might have been the yam that u have in NW

babyalive · Answer

I can't believe there is so much discrepancy about yams. Goodness, there must be several varieties of yams. Like tomatoes. You can by an heirloom, a hot house, a cherry, a grape tomato but they are all tomatoes. I've grown yams, lived on a farm most of my life and eatin' yams most of my life. The ones that are orange inside are called yams here in the Northwest. I have read the same thing about yams, but didn't read the benefit is exclusive to African yams. So, I would say wherever you find a yam, it's going to give you benefits. Good luck with G_S. I'm going to do a little research because this whole debate has my interest peaked now. (-:

G_S · Answer

The very reasons I put up this post was because I am so confused in identifying Yams. Yes I am talking about the YAms eated by African tribe and is a fertility booster. Will it be possible for you to post a pic of these yams for all of us. Today I ate what aweonelove suggested...these were orange inside, however these are called sweet potatos in the grocery store and did taste like sweet potatoes. What does the wild yams taste like when boiled (no taste?? like potatoes?) Do u know what it might be called amongst spanish population, coz the vegatebles names displayed in florida are mostly spanish names. Thanks for writing on this post

Iloveyams · Answer

Hi i'm now based in the UK. 

I think there's a difference between wild yams & the ordinary African type that is apparently responsible for the high incidence of twins amongst amongst Yoruba women.  I'm half-Yoruba myself & grew up amongst these very fertile women. If that is the type of yam you're wondering about, then it looks- & is shaped exactly like a log (roughly 30 cm long) with the outside looking like the brown bark of a tree.White inside. It's delicious, surprisingly easy to peel, chop & quick to cook. I've recently started eating lots of this type of yam as i've struggled to concieve & want to get pregnant naturally!

aweeonetolove · Answer

I am in Canada and good friends with lots of Vegetarians and Vegans. So my reliance is purely based on them but they have always called said Sweet Potatoes and Yams the same thing (thanks for the heads up about real sweet potatoes as green though!)  I love sweet potatoes.  They make the yummiest french fries and are fantastic when mixed with Butternut Squash, Apple and spices in a real tasty soup.  I always have some in my house.  Hopefully they'll start working soon.
Also look into carrots. I have read that they are doing studies with beta carotene increasing fertility in cattle.  It seems to work really well.  The only problem is that beta carotene is considered dangerous to take in supplement form.  But eating one big carrot a day is sufficient to get all the benefits.  I just got back from the grocery store where I bought a big bag!  Good luck.

G_S · Answer

Ok Thanks...I guess what I bought is all wrong....I bought yuka and malagna...they both have brown skin but r white from inside

babyalive · Answer

Yes.  The skin is browish though.  Light brown, slighty lighter than a potato, but inside, very orange.

G_S · Answer

I am in Florida and the names I mentioned above are what are uses because of Spanish influence. 
So yams are closer to sweet potato...are they orange from inside or outside?

babyalive · Answer

We have lots of Yam in the Northwest!   I would say sweet potato and yam in your neck of the woods are the same.  a yam is a root vegetable, about 6 inces long, more orange than pink though.  Although through the skin it may look pink.

Yams are very, very yummy!  Most people do call them sweet pototoes, although a true sweet potato is green.