Vinegar can do more than make your salad tasty. New research, published in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, suggests it may also help fight ulcerative colitis.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health found that vinegar suppresses inflammation-inducing proteins linked to the inflammatory bowel disease, which is closely tied to the makeup of gut bacteria.

Ulcerative colitis, which affects millions of people, causes repeated inflammation of the large intestine's lining, which can cause ulcers, abdominal pain, diarrhea and other symptoms.

The latest study found that vinegar, which has been used in traditional medicine for centuries, and its main ingredient, acetic acid, reduced the symptoms of the condition in mice fed small amounts of it and lowered the levels of proteins that induce potentially damaging inflammation in the gut.

The study also found that treated animals had higher levels of “good” bacteria, such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria, that past studies have found to be beneficial to mice with colitis-like symptoms.

The researchers said further research is needed to determine vinegar's effects on ulcerative colitis in humans.