Abnormalities in lipid metabolism cause obesity leading to metabolic syndrome. Thus, improvement of the abnormalities is significant for the treatment of metabolic syndrome. Nuclear receptors activated by specific ligands regulate lipid metabolism at the genomic level. The expression of lipid metabolism-related enzymes is increased or decreased by the activity of various nuclear receptors. The regulation of enzyme expression is mediated by specific response elements to each nuclear receptor in promoters of target genes. Many food factors acting as agonists or antagonists control the activities of nuclear receptors. Here, we provide several examples of food factors acting as agonists or antagonists, which are useful for the management of obesity accompanied by lipid metabolism abnormalities.