Postprandial hyperglycemia is a known physiological effect in diabetics. The glycemic index classifies starchy carbohydrate foods into predictable postprandial glycemic responses and was thought to be a useful tool for the planning of diabetic diets. Recently, There has been some debates over the applicability of the glycemic index to mixed meals. The purpose of this study was to study the glycemic effect of glutinous rice dumplings, a mixed food, on non-insulin-dependent diabetics and discuss the applicability of rice dumplings in diet planning. A total of 31 patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus participated in this study. The ingredients of the glutinous rice dumplings included 60 grams glutinous rice, 30 grams lean meat, 1/3 of a salted egg yolk, and 1/3 of a mushroom. After a preprandial blood sample, each subject ate one rice dumplings. Postprandial blood samples were taken at 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes respectively. The glucose hexokinase method was used to determine the plasma glucose value. Subjects were divided into two groups (poor control group and fair control group) by preprandial blood glucose, the cutoff point was 140 mg/dL. For the poor control group, the preprandial value was 226.0 +/- 62.2 mg/dL compared to 102.8 +/- 19.0 mg/dL in the fair control group. The values for the poor and fair control groups postprandially were: 30 minutes, 212.7 +/- 47.6 mg/dL vs 138.3 +/- 30.3 mg/dL; 60 minutes, 259.5 +/- 51.8 mg/dL vs 189.9 +/- 34.6 mg/dL; 90 minutes, 291.5 +/- 69.5 mg/dL vs 210.6 +/- 46.4 mg/dL; and 120 minutes, 297.1 +/- 80.0 mg/dL vs 196.6 +/- 54.0 mg/dL.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)