“Drink your milk! It’s full of calcium that will help your bones grow strong!”

We’ve probably all heard some version of this adage before — if not from our parents then from those classic Got Milk commercials…

But if you’re someone who has been drinking milk or taking calcium supplements under the impression that it’s helping your bones, I’ve got some bad news for you: you’ve been lied to.

A recent analysis of two large-scale reviews of studies found that calcium — whether eaten in your food or taken as a supplement — has virtually no effect on bone density.

The two reviews, which were published last week in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), also found no evidence that calcium reduces the risk of bone fractures in people over 50.

The first review looked at 59 randomized and controlled studies that examined the relationship between dietary and supplemental calcium and bone density. In total, the 59 studies examined some 13,790 men and women over the age of 50. The New York Times Well Blog reports the findings:

The data showed that more calcium in the diet or taken as supplements increased bone density about 1 percent to 2 percent — too little to have any effect on fractures.

The second of the two reviews analyzed 55 studies including more than 45,000 total participants. Though a few of the studies on supplements showed a slight reduction in the risk of vertebral fractures, the review found that overall, there is no significant relationship between how much calcium you consume and how likely you are to break a bone.

“We found no evidence that calcium intake is associated with the risk for fracture,”

said Dr. Mark J. Bolland, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Auckland and senior author of the review.

There is also evidence that taking calcium supplements can actually have a negative effect on your health. A study published in the BMJ in 2012 found that calcium can build up in the arteries, making them stiffer and less responsive to the body’s needs. Calcium can also build up in plaque (pockets of cholesterol that grow on the inside of arteries), narrowing arteries and limiting the amount of blood that can flow through them.

So if calcium is a sham, what’s the best way to maintain strong bones? Your best bet is physical activity, specifically weight-bearing exercises. Lifting weights triggers the formation of new bone tissue, which makes bones stronger. And when muscles pull on bones during physical activity, it strengthens them both.

You can check out the research for yourself here.

(h/t New York Times Well Blog)