Past studies have shown decreased lipemic responses to a high fat meal in healthy trained vs. untrained subjects. The purpose of this study was to characterize fasting lipid profiles and lipemic responses in 13 male cardiac patients (6 in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) and 7 controls (NONCR]. Body composition and dietary composition were assessed. Plasma total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglyceride (TG) were determined after a 12-h fast. Subjects consumed a high fat meal (60% of calories) and the lipemic response to the meal was assessed by determining plasma TG hourly for 8 h following the meal. CR had a lower percent body fat than NONCR (26% vs. 34%, P less than 0.05). CR consumed fewer calories from fat than NONCR (28% vs. 41%, P less than 0.05). There were no significant differences between groups in TC, HDL-C or TG, although the differences approached significance (P less than 0.10). CR had a lower TC/HDL-C ratio than NONCR (5.0 vs. 7.7, P less than 0.05). Lipemic responses between groups were similar. There was no significant difference in peak TG, time to peak TG, or area under the TG curve between CR and NONCR groups. Thus, subjects undergoing cardiac rehabilitation appear to have both a more favorable diet and fasting lipid profile than NONCR; however, both groups had a similar response to a high fat meal.