US mobile phone subscriptions per 100 people

From 2008 to 2022, US mobile phone subscriptions marched toward saturation while gluten-free product sales exploded from a niche concern to a $10 billion industry, and the two moved together with r = 0.9677. The most logical interpretation is that mobile phones gave Americans the ability to look up 'what is gluten' at any hour of the day or night, and the results were commercially catastrophic for bread. Alternatively, the more you stare at a small screen, the more your relationship with wheat deteriorates. The phones did this. The phones have done everything.

Mobile phone subscription growth from roughly 85 per 100 Americans in 2008 toward saturation around 130 (including multiple-device users) by 2022 tracks the mainstreaming of health information via smartphone apps, social media, and wellness content platforms. Gluten-free sales grew from approximately $1.3 billion in 2008 to over $10 billion by 2022, driven partly by diagnosed celiac disease awareness but primarily by the wellness trend amplified through digital media and influencer culture. Greater connectivity directly accelerated the spread of health-related dietary movements. The correlation here has a plausible partial causal mechanism, making it one of the more honest entries in the spurious genre.

Not every correlation is entirely spurious — sometimes two things are related through a chain of plausible mechanisms while still not being directly causal. The interesting question isn't whether phones and gluten-free diets are connected, but whether that connection is strong enough to validate the r-value or merely decorates an otherwise coincidental trend.