Abstract:The increasing prevalence of chronic metabolic diseases such as hyperlipidemia，obesity，and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease（NAFLD）has affected people's health and living standards.Functional food has been used as dietary supplements to relieve chronic metabolic diseases.Importance has been attached to polysaccharides as the active component in functional food because of their biological activities.Polysaccharides can help obese patients lose weight and regulate the lipid metabolism via multiple pathways，thus alleviating chronic metabolic diseases.The studies about the effects of polysaccharides from different sources on lipid metabolism and the related mechanisms including inhibiting lipogenesis，promoting lipidolysis，maintaining energy balance，and reducing lipid abnormal accumulation，oxidative stress，and inflammation were reviewed.Meanwhile，the targets of polysaccharides for regulating lipid metabolism were introduced，with a view to providing a theoretical basis for the development and application of functional food.