Forrest;
Perhaps I did not make myself clear in my post about soy abm lacking lactose,
which yields energy at the optimal rate for neonatal brain needs.  I was not
suggesting that the brain metabolizes galactose directly, but that lactose is
cleaved to release glucose at a rate that best meets metabolic needs
(4mg/kg/min).  The source is:
Lifschitz CH:  Carbohydrate needs in preterm and term newborn infants.  In
Tsang RC, Nichols BL, editors, Nutrition during Infancy, St. Louis, 1988,
Mosby.  (cited in Lawrence 4th ed p. 118).
(I love these little facts, they stick in my head, but the reference does not
always...)  Galactose is converted to glucose, converted to glycogen, and used
in the production of glycolipids and mucoproteins. Glycogen is the important
"quick release" energy storage.  Putting all this together, the energy release
is perfect.
        Another factoid about lactose (which is lacking in soy abm):  glucose
and sucrose lack the trophic (growth and development promoting) function of
lactose on the infant gut.  Lactose promotes gut maturation (closure of gap
junctions, etc) in human neonates.  Other carbohydrates "simply do not".  This
tidbit is from The Biological Specificity of Milk, an older LLL pamphlet by 2
veterinarians.  Don't you love it?
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC