Background Food composition and style is changing dramatically now, which causes inappropriate secretion of hormones from brain, gastrointestinal and endo-pancreas, may be related to unbalance of glucose in blood. The aim of this study was to explore the fast response of C-peptide, glucagon-like peptide-1 （GLP-1）, ghrelin and endomorphin-1 （EM-1） to the eastern and western style meals in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods The study enrolled 57 patients with type 2 diabetes （20 men and 37 women, mean age （67.05±8.26） years）. Eastern style meal （meal A） and western style meal （meal B） were designed to produce the fullness effect. C-peptide, GLP-1, ghrelin and EM-1 were assessed before （0 hour） and after （2 hours） each diet. Results The delta （2h-0h） of C- peptide in meal A was significantly lower than that in meal B （P=0.0004）. C-peptide, GLP-1, ghrelin and EM-1 were obviously higher before meal B than those before meal A （P 〈0.0001, 〈0.0001, =0.001, =0.0004 respectively）. Blood glucose 2 hours and 3 hours after meal B were higher than those after meal A （P=0.0005, 0.0079 respectively）. Correlations between GLP-1 and ghrelin were strongly positive before both meals and 2 hours after both meals and also in relation to the delta of meal A and meal B （rA0h=0.7838, rB05=0.9368, rA25=0.7615, rB2h=0.9409, r A（2h-0h）=0.7531, rB（2h 05）=0.9980, respectively, P 〈0.0001）. Conclusion Western style meal （high fat and protein food） could make more response of C-peptide than eastern style meal, and could stimulate more gut hormones （GLP-1, ghrelin） and brain peptide （EM-1） at the first phase of digestion.
