Bad news for people with diabetes who are fond of sugar-free chewing gums.

A report in the British Medical Journal Friday highlighted the cases of some patients who lost up to a fifth of their bodyweight after chewing sugar-free chewing gums.

The study described the sweetener used in sugar-free chewing gums as the culprit that, according to researchers, triggers several health disorder including weight loss, abdominal pain and diarrhoea. The sweetener Sorbitol, also known as ‘E 420’, is used in some toothpastes among thousands of other products.

Herbert Lochs and Juergen Bauditz from the University of Berlin studied two patients with chronic diarrhoea, abdominal pain and substantial weight loss. They underwent extensive investigation before a detailed analysis of their eating was undertaken. It was found that both had been consuming large amounts of sugar-free gum and sweets, the online edition of the Daily Mail reported. Both lost their weight substantially, the study says.

After they started a sorbitol-free diet, their diarrhoea stopped and they gained weight. Lochs said the cases were unusual because the consumption of sorbitol was not enormously high, yet the effects had been serious.

He said people, particularly diabetics, should be aware of the fact that too much sorbitol might be “dangerous” for them.