Calcium is the mineral most likely to be deficient in the average diet. Calcium deficiency is a condition that is now more and more common. Only 21 percent of us are getting the recommended amount of calcium, according to federal government statistics. The result of insufficient amounts of calcium in our bodies over the long term may be thinning bones, termed osteoporosis or the softening of bony tissue, called osteomalacia. The faulty metabolism of calcium during childhood may result in a condition called rickets. Recent research even points to calcium deficiency as being a possible cause of hypertension (high blood pressure) and of colon cancer. You