When it comes to vegetables, there is also their abundance of phytonutrients to consider. In the science of food, no change has been bigger than the discovery of phytonutrients and their unique place in our health. Phytonutrients include all of the unique substances that give foods their brilliant colors, their delicious flavors, and their unique aromas. They are also the nutrients most closely linked to prevention of certain diseases. Carotenonids and flavonoids are the two of the largest groups of phytonutrients, and there is no food group that provides them in amounts as plentiful as vegetables. The phytonutrients in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, and in root vegetables like onions and garlic, are unique when it comes to decreased risk of certain cancers, and some of these phytonutrients simply cannot be found in other food groups.