[Summary] During the past 10 years, the prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus ( T2DM) worldwide has increased greatly.Western dietary pattern is often regarded as the primary causes of the metabolic diseases like obesity and T2DM.A number of other diets have been shown to be effective for the management of obesity and T2DM, such as the Mediterranean diet, the vegetarian diet, the low-calorie diet and the macrobiotic diet.In addition, recent studies have suggested that an imbalance of the intestinal microbiota may be involved in the development of obesity and T2DM.The main regulator of the intestinal microbiota is diet, and the composition of microbiota is impacted by long time diet pattern.This article reviews the recent advance in the influence of different diet patterns on human metabolism and gut microbiota.