Traditional clinical nutrition research mostly stay at the stage of human and animal experiments. Cell model experiment has gradually become an important way in clinical nutrition research nowadays. Firstly, this review mainly summarizes the cells commonly used in nutrition research and gives a general introduction of diseases in clinical nutrition using cell models such as atherosclerotic cardio-cerebrovascular disease, sarcopenia, kidney diseases, tumor, gastrointestinal diseases, liver damage, allergic inflammation, burns and so on. Then it focuses mainly on the diseases which are the leading death causes of the Chinese residents, reviewing the use of cell models the advantages as well as their scientific significance and the development and application trend of cell model (3D cell, cytome, microfluidic, high throughput and high content). Finally, the limitations of cell model experiments in clinical nutrition are summarized, and new technologies used in cell model experiments of clinical nutrition are prospected.