Congratulations to Mimi Kirk and Julian Winter, the winners of PETA’s 2009 Sexiest Vegetarians Over 50 Contest! Mimi, who is 70—and doesn’t look a day over 50!—has been veg for 40 years, and Julian, 55, has been a vegetarian for 33 years.

Do you think vegetarians are sexier than meat eaters? While sexiness is in the eye of the beholder, it’s definitely a question worth considering. I remember when we were out in California and my mother was just astounded by how “young” everyone looked. I attributed it to the fresh air and the non-smoking, but everyone my mother asked either cited being vegetarian, or eating a diet low in meat and high in fresh produce.

Indeed, some of the contestants said that once they went veg, they lost weight, got healthier, and generally were happier. One even said that her doctor said she had the blood of a 16-year-old.

But should the credit all go to just not eating meat? After all, many vegetarians are also super health conscious in other ways—they often eat a healthy diet overall, exercise, buy organic food and take very good care of themselves, all commendable things to do.

And naturally, if you’re a vegetarian who likes to eat a bunch of grilled cheese sandwiches, pasta, Cherry Coke and Funyan Rings (ahem, yours truly in her college years), you’re not necessarily going to be that much healthier.

Scientifically, there are a lot of benefits to being vegetarian—a reduced risk of cancer and diabetes, lower blood pressure, healthier skin, better digestion and more energy have all been attributed to nixing meat from the diet. Veg-heads also usually lose weight when they make the big change from loin to leaf.

That said, being thin does not guarantee sexiness. There are plenty of plus-size models out there who are gorgeous and working to change what the status quo believes to be beautiful, and the national average size is now what, a 16? And given that many “average” people, I don’t know, get married, have kids, or engage in sex sometime in their lives, odds are that someone finds the average Jane or Joe sexy!

And there are plenty of celebrities who love their meat, have meat on their bones and are considered pretty damn hot.  As cute as Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman are, Jessica Simpson, Jonathan Rhys Myers and Johnny Depp aren’t bad, either.

What do you think? If you know someone is a vegetarian, does it make them sexier to you?

Anyway, congratulations once again to the winners; may we all hope to look some semblance like you as we age! Keep up the awesome work.