Did you know that including yams in your diet can lead to having twins?

mooregatemommy · December 2009

Totally didn't know that. Watching Discovery Health channel program called "Twins by surprise" That was a true or false question. Surprisingly it's true.

Mrs.BLG · December 2009

Not to self: stay away from yams! I don't like them anyway though!

Wassygirl · December 2009

what? how is this possible??

smiling76 · December 2009

I have heard that there is some type of soy thingy with yams and such--but didn't know about the twins thing. We eat them about 3-4x a week--no kidding. DS loves them as well.

Hmmm....I'll have to keep that in mind when TTC.

mooregatemommy · December 2009

Wassygirl:

what? how is this possible??

Weird right?

Yams are thought to contain chemicals that stimulate hyperovulation, increasing your chances of conceiving twins

busygal · December 2009

Does this mean actual yams or does it also include sweet potatoes (I recently found out these are two different things although I've always used them interchangeably).

I think most of what you get in a regular grocery store is a "sweet potato"

If what you say is true, I will be making sure I'm buying sweet potatoes not yams...we eat tons of these!

lpennie16 · December 2009

is a yam the same as a sweet potato?

KittyCatBio · December 2009

but sweet potatoes are all good, right? RIGHT? evil yams. (not that i'm TTC, but i've got the non-identical twin thing running in my family)

mooregatemommy · December 2009

lpennie16:
is a yam the same as a sweet potato?

From the Library of Congress website. (I just googled it and this is what popped up. I don't normally go to the Library of Congress website. lol)

Although yams and sweet potatoes are both angiosperms (flowering plants), they are not related botanically. Yams are a monocot (a plant having one embryonic seed leaf) and from the Dioscoreaceae or Yam family. Sweet Potatoes, often called ?yams?, are a dicot (a plant having two embryonic seed leaves) and are from the Convolvulacea or morning glory family.

Lucky_Dragonfly · December 2009

studies done in Africa have proven that they add more estrogen into your system which can cause you to ovulate multiple eggs. there is a a village/region of Afria that has the highest twin rate it he world and its because they eat alot of yams.

MrsSarahB · December 2009

This is a true but not true kind of thing...there is a certain kind of yam that they think encourages hyperovulation but from what I understand, they are not the kinds of yams we have access to in the US. Sweet potatoes are not the same thing either. There is a tribe in Africa whose diet consists of a HUGE amount of this particular kind of yam and they have a really high twin birth rate.

All of you who love sweet potatoes, you're fine!

lanaooo · December 2009

Yeah I watched a show about this. It was about a tribe that had like 20 times more twins than other populations and after studying them they found out it was because they ate yams all the time. Remind me to not even look at a yam! Zip it!

Sharon&Paul · December 2009

MrsSarahB:

This is a true but not true kind of thing...there is a certain kind of yam that they think encourages hyperovulation but from what I understand, they are not the kinds of yams we have access to in the US. Sweet potatoes are not the same thing either. There is a tribe in Africa whose diet consists of a HUGE amount of this particular kind of yam and they have a really high twin birth rate.

All of you who love sweet potatoes, you're fine!

True this type of yam is not available in the states

southernbelle82 · December 2009

and the reasons to stay away from yams just keep on coming.

eris1995 · December 2009

That's crazy!! Our grocery store only has yams so that's what we usually get. I think twins are so cute as long as they're someone elses. I'm going to have to stay away from them since we're TTC#2.