Americans identifying as LGBTQ+

Between 2012 and 2022, Americans identifying as LGBTQ+ and US nutrition bar retail sales both increased, correlating at 0.9656 across eleven data points. The reading that protein bars are fueling a more open society—or that social progress increases appetite for whey isolate—is available to anyone willing to abandon scientific rigor. What the data actually shows is that the 2010s were a decade in which Americans became simultaneously more open about their identities and more enthusiastic about portable snacking. Both trends peak among younger demographics, which is the closest thing to a shared driver this correlation has.

LGBTQ+ self-identification grew from 3.5% to over 7%, driven by Gen Z's higher identification rates and reduced stigma. Nutrition and energy bar sales grew from roughly $5 billion to over $8 billion, driven by on-the-go snacking trends, protein-focused diets, and product proliferation from brands like RXBAR and KIND. Both trends are concentrated in younger, urban demographics and grew during the same decade of cultural and consumer change.

When two metrics both grow because the same generation is driving them—one through social openness, the other through snacking habits—the correlation describes a cohort, not a cause.