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Nutrient determinants of postprandial triglyceride (TG) are matter of debate, especially for type II diabetes.This study was performed to evaluate the impact of dietary habits on postprandial TG response in a population-based sample of type II diabetic patients.One-hundred and forty type II diabetic patients (63 men/77 women, age 45-70 years) referring to the same health district, not on hypolipidemic drugs and without any other chronic disease, performed four TG profiles (at fasting, before, 2 and 3 h after lunch) with a specific device (Accutrend GCT, Roche Diagnostics Mannheim, Germany) validated previously. Dietary habits were recorded by a dietitian utilizing a previously validated semiquantitative questionnaire.Triglyceride values (mmol/l, mean +/- s.d.) were 2.22 +/- 0.93 at fasting, decreased before lunch (2.03 +/- 0.81), reached peak values 3 h after lunch (2.73 +/- 1.11). Postprandial TG increments (3 h after lunch minus pre-lunch concentration) significantly correlated with the intake (g/day) of animal protein (r = 0.20, P0.02), total fat (r = 0.21, P0.01), animal fat (r = 0.19, P0.03) and vegetable fat (r = 0.19, P0.03), also after adjusting for fasting TG and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Expressing nutrient intake as percentage of total calorie intake, total and animal fat remained significantly and directly related to postprandial TG increment (r = 0.21, P0.01 for total fat; r = 0.19, P0.03 for animal fat) whereas the percentage of carbohydrates was inversely related (r = -0.23, P0.007).Fat intake seems the major nutritional determinant of postprandial TG response in type II diabetic patients.