Chewing too much sugar-free gum containing the artificial sweetener sorbitol can cause diarrhea leading to potentially dangerous weight loss, German physicians report.

The cases of a 21-year-old woman who suffered diarrhea that caused her to lose about 24 pounds and a 46-year-man who lost approximately 46 pounds because of diarrhea were mysteries until the doctors asked about their chewing habits.

Both were found to be consuming a lot of sorbitol, primarily from chewing gum, said Dr. Herbert Lochs, professor of internal medicine at Humboldt University in Berlin, and one author of the report.