Human body produces steroidal hormones using fats, particularly using cholesterol. Hence, sex hormones are naturally fat soluble. Thus, testosterone is also naturally fat soluble, and it is insoluble in the water.

This also means that synthetic analogs of sex hormones with higher fat solubility would have better effect. Not all synthetic anabolic steroids, which are testosterone analogs are fat soluble, but most are.

However, that is not all, in fact, manufacturers intentionally produce anabolic steroids that are highly fat soluble. Not only that, many steroids are esterified, which means that they are combined with larger fat molecules. So, why is it done, and why most anabolic steroids are in oily base?

Well, it seems that oil-based steroids have many benefits over water soluble steroids. The biggest benefit is that oil-based steroids have longer duration of action. This is because they are able to form a depot in muscles after intra-muscular injection, from where they are released gradually. It means that one does not need to inject these hormones daily. Of course, here we are talking about mainly injectables, as most oral steroids are water soluble.

Water soluble steroids enter body more quickly and start working faster. However, they are removed form the body faster, and thus they have shorter duration of action, requiring frequent dosing.

Here it is vital to understand that when it comes to steroids, it is duration of action that matters most. It is not of much relevance how fast does it start acting. After all, that is only regarding the first dose, and steroids are not some kind of emergency drugs where minutes count.

Oil-based Steroids

Water-based Steroids

So, as one can see from the tables above that oil-based steroid have an edge due to a longer duration of action.

However, this does not mean that water-based steroids are inferior. They are generally safer and better tolerated. They are also less likely to cause a local adverse reaction at injection site, or pain.

Some people may also experience better gains using water soluble steroids. This is because water-soluble steroids allow gaining higher blood concentrations. They might be better suited for stacking in some cases.

Further, when one is starting using some specific steroid, it may be better to start with water-soluble steroids, as shorter duration means that adverse effects would also not last for long, and they are more readily reversed.

To conclude, anabolic steroids come in two forms, those are water and oil soluble. Generally, oil-based steroids are preferred due to a longer duration of action and thus less frequent dosing. However, that is not always the case and some people may prefer water soluble steroids due to better tolerability.

Tags oil, based, water, difference, vs, what is