The present invention relates to a fuel pump for pumping fuel, comprising a piston (2) and a diaphragm seal element (3), which seals on an inner annular seal seat (4) and an outer annular seal seat (5), wherein the following equation is satisfied: (Ra2−ra2)/(ri+L)2=ra/ri, where ri is the inner radius of the inner seal seat (4), ra is the inner radius of the outer seal seat (5), Ra is the outer diameter of the piston (2) and L is a difference between an outer radius (Ria) of the inner seal seat (4) and the inner radius (ri) of the inner seal seat (4). The invention further relates to a method for operating a fuel pump.