Americans identifying as LGBTQ+US probiotic dietary supplement sales
Between 2012 and 2022, American adults identifying as LGBTQ+ climbed and American probiotic sales climbed, and the two have risen together (r = 0.958) in a correlation that should be read as evidence of the same cultural openness from two different angles. The closet opened; the gut biome, ceremonially, was acknowledged. Both were present all along; both finally got counted.
The share of Americans identifying as LGBTQ+ grew from about 3.5% in 2012 to over 7.1% by 2022, with Gen Z's 21% identifying rate doing most of the work; US probiotic supplement sales climbed from about $800 million to over $3.5 billion, powered by kombucha, yogurt drinks, and the cultural mainstreaming of 'gut health' as a category. Both are parallel expressions of an era in which previously-private aspects of the self (identity, digestion, mood) became legitimate topics of public consumer attention and market action. The two graphs are not causally linked, but both reflect the same generational tilt toward transparency on matters that earlier cohorts would have declined to discuss at dinner.
A census box is checked. A capsule is swallowed. Both expressions of a country getting more specific about itself.
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